When using equipment or vehicles such as farming equipment or construction equipment, it is frequently important to know when a particular piece of the equipment is in a desired position relative to some reference point, such as the body of the equipment or vehicle. Conventional position switches or sensors have had a number of disadvantages. For example, they frequently do not provide much flexibility in where the position sensor attaches to the equipment. Also, they do not typically provide any feedback to help the operator adjust the sensor at set-up or installation.
As a specific example, agricultural crop harvesting equipment, such as combines, have a harvesting head which must be lowered while in use, and raised while not in use. Head position sensors or head switches attached to the head provide electrical signals which indicate a position of the head. The head switch signals generated by the head switch on a combine provide an indication of the time and location at which the head is raised or lowered, which can be used as a starting or stopping point for creating a yield map for a field.
One type of conventional head switch utilizes a spring loaded hinge and magnet design to generate the position signal. The hinge with a magnet on it is mounted near a read switch. When the head of the combine is raised, the read switch comes into contact with the magnet. As a result, an electrical signal is generated which is indicative of the position of the head.
Conventional head switches of the type described above have a number of disadvantages. For example, this type of head switch is not particularly rugged and occasionally proves to be unreliable. With the head switch exposed to impact with rain, dust, crops and the like, this lack of ruggedness can be a significant disadvantage. Further, with conventional head switches, it is difficult for the operator of the combine to determine when the head switch is properly adjusted and/or when the head of the combine is in the desired position. Also, these prior art head switches can only be mounted in a limited number of positions between the combine body and the harvesting head.
Consequently, an improved position sensor for use with equipment such as combines which overcomes these and other problems would be highly beneficial.